Bryston 4B-ST (RETRO REVIEW) Is it still good after 20 years
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- čas přidán 12. 03. 2020
- In this video I take a look at the Bryston 4B-ST power amplifier.
A retro review (for me) is about equipment that is not made anymore.
Music: - bensound.com
- CZcams audio library
I have owned four 4B-NRB Bryson amplifiers since 1993. The warranty’s have expired! I feel the Bryson’s exhibit a minimalist functional design that I find desirable. In addition, they have never let me down. I’m sure there are many good amps for less money, but if I find a great product, I tend to stick with that product. These amps will likely outlast me.
Have been using a 12 B Pre - amp and 2 B Power the last 30 years and they still sound fabulous.
A brilliant company and their 20 year guarantee has proven true to their word.
I live in the UK and about 12 years ago the pre had a loose phono socket sent it back to Canada via my dealer and 3 weeks later it was back sounding even better a few new parts on the circuit board and phono socket repaired all for free of cahrge
Thanks for the 4 B ST review
Good story 👍 Thanks for sharing.
- I enjoyed the Bryston very much. It is a total mismatch with my 97dB, 15 watt 16 Ohm broadband loudspeakers, but if I ever change to a more demanding loudspeaker I could definitely see myself using one of those 😃
Great review Ivar. Your channel is growing very fast, congratulations!
Connor G Yo Connor, I thought you gave up on me. Glad to hear from you again 😀 Saw your video of that audio show recently. Looked very interesting even though everyone seemed to be playing at the same time.
The Audiophile Barista Ivar, my notifications have been messed up. Contact me on telegram. I got locked out of my account but was able to save my username by contacting telegram. Just search my username “ConnorG” and message me directly.
Connor G Hi, apparently my notifications are also messed up. I only just now see this message. I will contact you soon.
I owned one of these many years ago and the sound was fantastic the highs were crystal clear definatly something wrong with his amp. One of the best amps money can buy.
Dennis McKeown Yes, this is probably one of the few solid state amps that could win me over 👍
One the best purchases I ever made
I had the baby B60 integrated back in the late '90s, and it was very musical, powerful for its size, no issues -- to the extent that I never felt the need to go separates. Wish I still had it.
Great review
Thanks man 👍☕️
It's still one of the best ever made.
thank you
I got this is silver which I brought used around 5 years ago. Love the sound however recently the channel 2 have got crackling/humming sound. I guess I need to do the recap which I still have no idea on where to do it and how much will it cost. Brand new cost is really2 expensive.
I have the Bryston 4B ST and just got a Lexicon512 which is actually Bryston 9B ST with 5 individual 3B ST in the chassis. When copared, the basic sound is similar. However, the biggest differences between a 4B sound and 3B sound is that 4B for sure is more powerful and controlled, it's faster with better high frequency extension. The sound stage is wide. In comparison, 3B is much warmer to make it sound almost like a tube amp. Wider sound stage than 4B but the midrange is smoother. If you don't need the extra power then it's right down to the taste between a 4B faster cleaner and extended range sound or a 3B warmer, more relaxed and more musical sound
Good information. Thanks for sharing. Much appreciated. You are using it for home cinema I guess?
@@theaudiophilebarista2424 I'm using this for 2 channel system. I use 2 pairs of speakers together for 2 channel and since they are all Focal based so sound very similar and by using the Bryston 9B ST/Lexicon 512, I use 4 channels for the 4 speakers left and right to have a totally coherent amplificaitons. I have many other amps as well which I can rotate in such as Sonic Frontiers Power 2, Canary Audio CA-300 300B, McIntosh MC7100, Threshold CAS-2 monoblocks, Bryston 4B ST, but by using the single Bryston 9B I can be sure the amps matches which elliminates the in-coherence and timing offset introduced by mising the amps. So when I just want to use either pair at a time then I'll switch to the other amps. But Bryston 9B ST or the new SST is perfect for 2 channel audio if you want to use bi-amp system or multi-speaker system.
Hi Sean, I currently have a pair of Rega Exon 3`s that sound quite nice. I do like the warmer sound but wanted to try a 4B ST. So you're saying the 3B is warmer sounding but yet detailed and robust? Maybe I should be looking at a 3B instead of a 4B because I am not a fan of bright sounding gear. It gets hard on my ears after a while.
@@RonRivet With my own setup and comparing using 2 differents sets of speakers, 4BST can sound a little bright from time to time. But it has a lot of ooomph...and will move you. 3BST eventhough it's similar in design just supposed to be lower power, is quite different in sound that it is definitely more polite and warmer in sound. You still get the power and bass control but on brighter speakers it'll tame it better. Not to the point of a tube amp but definitely warmer than 4BST. If you're not looking for absolute raw power and wanted warmer sound then I think 3BST might be a better fit.
I completely agree, bryston is awesome gear they used to give 20 years warranty on their product. I use 2 50kg (!! EACH) weighing ATI amplifiers, good old days when they knew how to build a amp with superior parts. The 7b brystons were so well build and more powferful than a top model KRELL KS series..
The highs getting out control, did you check if the amp needs capacitor replacements ? These are not the youngest amps anymore..perhaps worth a check .
Michel Linschoten Hi, I’m not a technical guy so I did not check the inside but I am sure something was off. Vintage Stereo just released his video of this very Bryson and they take you inside the amp. Make sure to check that one out as well. Thanks for watching.
They still give 20 year Warranty. I recently purchased a Bryston 2.5B3
When my 4b was 19 years old when I turned it on it was making the same sound as this amp is showing on the speakers and the problem was the capacitors were drying out Bryston replaced them and gave the amp a complete checkup to make sure it was up to specs all free of charge, can't get better than that.
Do you actually leave a decent speaker stand like a Dreadnought as wobbly as that? They have adjustable spikes for a reason....
I guess I do 😉
It is because of the floor and the fact that I have to move the dreadnoughts around so many times (because of the channel).
So I have rubber feet on them and whit the thick carpet they do move, BUT once they are set this is no problem at all.
As a matter of fact, in my situation, a ‘soft’ connection to the floor is preferred over a ‘hard’ connection (my house is not a regular build).
Thanks for the observation because these speaker stands deserve to be treated well 👍
And thanks for watching 👍
Second hand store is selling for $700 cad, is it worth it?
When in good condition that is a pretty reasonable price.
Even if it's not in ideal condition, there are many techs in Canada that can repair these. For $700, that's a steal! These amps are built to last and pump out loads of Canuck power 🇨🇦
BRYSTON amps carry a 20 year warranty. If you can find one less than 20 years old you still have warranty. If warranty has run out, you are still fairly safe buy Bryston. They are built to last..
I have only ever owned Arcam integrated/power amplifiers in my system powering Kef reference speakers. My dream, when funds allow, is to buy Bryston, Krell or McIntosh. Will probably always be a dream, but a we all need a bit of delusion now and then. Thanks for sharing.
Byron G Well, out of those 3 the Bryston will probably be the first one to come within reach. Keep dreaming 😉👍 Thanks for watching
Is this better than 3b, can I use for surround sound
Hi, I never heard the 3B myself so I can’t comment on that.
- Surround? Sure. You just need more of them 😉👍
Better if you have a huge room and have speakers that require more power than the 3B can deliver. I have owned both the 4B NRB and the 3B-ST. I eventually sold the 4B NRB because I preferred the sound of the 3B-ST. My speakers are power hungry PSB Stratus Golds in a 11'x26' room. Fro surrounds, I would never go larger than a 3B.
Hope that helps
That is one unattractive powerful beast.
Nice review, Ivar. I like the rotating, floating stars! How many watts per channel do you think you were pushing in your listening tests?
P Sol Yes it is ugly 😁 But fortunately only the outside.
- I did not play at insane levels so not too much watt I guess. The LED’s never turned red.
- Also I used 4 Ohm, 8 Ohm and 16 Ohm loudspeakers at 85 to 98 dB sensitivity and I don’t know how to measure the amount of watts while playing,
- About the ✨ I’m trying to learn more about photoshop (this effect turned out to be pretty easy actually) so thanks for the remark and thanks for watching.
As I’ve mentioned, the Proton amp I have has two large VU meters showing wpc at 8ohms which is powering the Heresy 1’s which have a 8ohm impedance and 96db sensitivity as well as Klipsch R28F towers which are 8ohm and 98db. My listening area looks a bit larger than yours with 20ft ceilings and while the sound is tight and clean, my ears start to bleed with sustained music at 10-12 wpc!
P Sol As you have seen there is not one vu meter in my system so I have no idea, but as the specs are similar to yours I’m sure I’m in the same range. My room is 25 feet by 25 feet and only 8,5 for the ceilings. That is already pretty good for a Dutch home. 20 feet is crazy (and great for stereo 😀).
It really is!
He wont be taxing that amp, not with the speakers he shown here at least. I am sure that it peaked here and there. To give you a nice example in my system, i play with Magnepan Tympani I speakers 85db at recommended power 4ohm 500w, these speakers suck the life out of your amp. I don't think this is the case with what he's playing with.
This is kind of industry standard amp and in order to hear what is really capable of you need a balanced preamplifier of a high class. I tried with similar AVM preamplifier but it is not match and those problems came partly because of that. With Bryston pre and balanced conection everything come into place and sound is hard to beat not only in this price tag.
Thanks for the tip.
I have a much better preamp now, but the Bryston is long gone 🫤
4:02 Inpoots?, Outpoots?
??
I've owned Bryston gear in the past, and while I appreciate the build quality and clarity, I struggled with it's high frequency reproduction. I had Bryston check the amp, and they found an issue with one of the connectors, but when the amp was returned, the highs were still unpleasant lacking in the ability to deliniate timbral differences. I had a couple of friends that owned the exact amp you have, the 4BST. The friend that does live sound and recordings still enjoys his, while the fellow audiophile sold his some time ago.
Yes, for me the only drawback was the high frequency performance. Glad you noticed the same thing 😉
It wasn't the Bryston it was your speakers that couldn't handle the high frequency's, I owned a 4B years ago and never had a problem with the highs but then I also had $5,000 speakers.
Dennis McKeown I tried the Bryson on many different loudspeakers. Even my €12.000 Ocellia’s (although I don”t believe price is an indication of quality). Same thing every time.
- My guess is that it is because of the age of this particular device it has this problem.
- It may very well not be a Bryston problem, but please understand this is not a new amplifier. That’s why I call it a retro review.
- Anyways, thanks for your comment.
@@dennismckeown5863 Wish that was the case because I really liked the amp. In my case, I owned a 2BLP pro and I tried it on $2k bookshelves and $4k floorstanders and in both cases the problem with the highs was present. The amp was just gone over by Bryston, so I know it was working correctly. I heard the same issues with my friends 4BST (who also sold his.) Bryston was aware of these complaints and that's why the 4BSST is purported to be more refined in the highs and mids as compared to previous versions (although I have not heard one.)
Why did you sell yours?
I own 2 Bryson’s 3B ST and a 3BNRB and Paradigm Studio Monitors. I run the st now and find it’s highs and mids a lot better. That being said I do love both units and find the NRB more even but I like a little more highs but not Screechy annoying highs
Another reviewer that doesn't like the Bryston looks. I don't get it. To me, this kind of looks simply mean this amp means business. That's right. And lest we forget: if something nice to look at is what one is after, then there's better ways out there to spend two grand - if on the other hand it's sound one is after, well, one can hardly go wrong with it. And the looks provide a guaranteed talking material each time one has guests..
Well, beauty is subjective.
- As an audiophile I will absolutely buy an ugly looking amp if I think it sounds great, but if I can have both...even better 😀
@@theaudiophilebarista2424 There's a lot of emphasis placed on design and bling lately - not to mention "solid feel" knobs, case, power cords, what-have-you. People forget that all of these cost money. Someone has to sit and design the new design, someone else has to approve it and someone has to obtain the new tooling or re-program the existing tooling in order to make it. All this money could be spent on what should be the most important thing in audio equipment: correctly designed and implemented function and (as a consequence) good sound.
@@Stelios.Posantzis Yes, I touch upon this topic every now and then in my vlogs. Here is the short of it
- If money is well spend in the design I am okay with paying a little more.
- To me case design and power cords are worth spending money on. Also from a sound perspective.
- I have to look at my system everyday (40 years now) so yes, if something also pleases my eye I am all for it.
- And lastly, you have to make time to design a case anyways, so why not use the same time to create something more attractive 😉
@@theaudiophilebarista2424 I agree with the principle that, if you're gonna do something, then do it well and also try to make it look good too. A lot of budget equipment out there look good and are designed to function well. Then there's the case of stuff with a 2in thick CNC'd aluminium fascia costing upwards of 2 grand. And I'm thinking to myself: now who needs that slab of metal? And how much would that thing cost without it? Perhaps someone who would be perfectly happy with just a plain sheet metal box but was after the good sound might be able to afford it, were it not for all that extravaganza. Some people like to keep their equipment in full view and enjoy the looks of them every day. Others prefer to have them kept in a cupboard, safe but out of sight. In my mind, a manufacturer that sells just a no frills good device is always the more honest one. Take Sugden's A21 (or even better the A51) as a case in point. When it came out, it made Sugden but was nothing extravagant in the looks department. Take their A21 today: essentially the same amp, yet it costs so much more! It would never be a cheap amp and those that can afford it probably do not mind paying the extra for the good looks. It can be made cheaply, however (there's nothing special to it construction-wise apart from the cooling fins), yet it's not because it's more profitable to just sell an upmarket design version (you're paying for the privilege of exclusivity).
@@Stelios.Posantzis I can go a long way with what you say.
- If it is a scam or just the same product for much more money (also a scam) it is obvious.
- However, saying that a manufacturer that sells a good device WITH frills (like a good case, solid looks or a solid volume knob) is less honest is not what I can agree with.
- Of course there are those that make a very good product but will charge way too much.
They still make Bryson.
TIM KAUFHOLD Yes they do.
Bryston is alive and well. They have not gone any where..well except for opening a second build facility..
It sound horrible in bridge mode !